Call them American “garagistes,” a term once used to describe small-lot vintners in Bordeaux, France, who challenged traditional winemaking styles in the early 1990s. The young winemakers of Paso Robles, a few still under 30, are keen to push boundaries and experiment, and here in Paso, four hours south of Napa, they can. “I was able to grow my brand organically on a shoestring budget,” says Aaron Jackson, 29, whose label, Aaron Wines , focuses on petite syrahs. Getting the grapes is also easier than in points north. “You could never walk into a Napa vineyard and get fruit,” says Janell Dusi, 32, whose zinfandels are sold by the name J Dusi Wines. Like many of the area’s rising stars, Anthony Yount, 27, works at an established vineyard, Denner Vineyards, while making his Kinero Cellars blends on the side. (He’s known for his whites.) Jacob Toft, 35, who was studying landscape architecture when a viticulture class turned him on to grapes, produces his acclaimed Jacob Toft Wines at the Denner facility. Brian Benson, 30, started making his own five-gallon batches at his father’s winery, Dark Star Cellars, as a teenager, and he now creates bold wines at Brian Benson Cellars. The viticultural freedom of Paso even persuaded Guillaume Fabre, 33, to move from France eight years ago. He credits the success of his boutique label, Clos Solène, to Paso’s limestone-rich soil. “When I moved,” Fabre says, “I saw potential with no limit.”

Photographs by Adrian Gaut

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